Those lights darting across the sky Thursday night and early Friday didn’t result from an ill-timed visit by Santa and his reindeer.

The Geminid meteor shower was evident over Alamance County and much of the rest of the East Coast – resulting in a memorable light show.

“We had some really wonderful meteors,” said Dr. Steve Danford, a professor of physics and astronomy at UNC Greensboro and director of Three College Observatory in southern Alamance County.

“It was a nice occasion.”

The Geminid shower takes place every mid-December. It’s named after the constellation Gemini — roughly the area in the sky where the meteor shower appears.

Earth is passing through the orbit of an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon and we’re seeing the debris. At its peak, the shower produces more than 50 shooting stars per minute — many no larger than a grain of sand burning up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

This year’s show was particularly spectacular because there was no moon and no clouds to get in the way.

An extra punch to this year’s show may have been delivered by the chance we were also passing through the debris of a second comet — 46P/Wirtanen. It’d be the first time on record we had two meteor showers at once.

Even without that second shower, Danford said the Geminid shower is one of the year’s best — the first major one since the Perseids shower in August.

What about Friday night? Will more meteors be visible?

Danford answered with a definite maybe.

He said while Thursday night and early Friday were the best times for viewing, traces of the Geminid shower may still be visible Friday night and maybe even Saturday night. Regardless, Danford said a meteor or two is visible on almost any clear night.

If you’re out and about, it might be worth your time to take a gander at the sky.